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Jeffry Gottfried

During the beginnings of COVID, I was diagnosed with a form of bone marrow/blood cancer and my nature outings were limited to my home and backyard, I made it a habit of lying back in a lounge chair in the backyard, looking up at the sky to explore nature from a different perspectives perspective. This simple regular practice opened up entire worlds of animal behavior to me. I spotted many species of birds flying over my somewhat limited view of the sky. I was amazed and so rewarded for my efforts. Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, flocks of Canada Geese and Sandhills Cranes flew over during my daily hour of just looking up, at a more severe angle than my neck could achieve, had I not been reclining. Vaux's Swifts , just returning from an epic non-stop migration rocketed in and out of my window on the sky at 90 miles per hour, as they gathered in what was to be their summer home. I was so taken by these wondrous little creatures that lived for most of the year, on the wing , in the sky. GI eventually placed a ladder up onto my home's flat roof for even better viewing. One day while kicking back on the roof, an incredible thing happened, so quickly and suddenly that ,at first I thought that I was just imagining things, that I had not seen one of those Vaux's Swifts dive down from the sky and into my chimney! When , 15 minutes or so later, a Swift flew up , out of the chimney, my observation was confirmed: Vaux's Swifts had chosen my chimney as their nesting site! I soon realized that their nest, containing 9 nestlings was essentially located in my living room: at the bottom of the chimney/top of the fireplace. Each time an adult flew in, a chorus of nestlings greeted them and the food that the returning adult had just harvested from the sky at high altitude. I referred to the food gatherers as "adults " and not "parents because futher observations revealed that 4 adults were working long hours for months to feed the young! My further reading revealed th... [View Full Comment] During the beginnings of COVID, I was diagnosed with a form of bone marrow/blood cancer and my nature outings were limited to my home and backyard, I made it a habit of lying back in a lounge chair in the backyard, looking up at the sky to explore nature from a different perspectives perspective. This simple regular practice opened up entire worlds of animal behavior to me. I spotted many species of birds flying over my somewhat limited view of the sky. I was amazed and so rewarded for my efforts. Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, flocks of Canada Geese and Sandhills Cranes flew over during my daily hour of just looking up, at a more severe angle than my neck could achieve, had I not been reclining. Vaux's Swifts , just returning from an epic non-stop migration rocketed in and out of my window on the sky at 90 miles per hour, as they gathered in what was to be their summer home. I was so taken by these wondrous little creatures that lived for most of the year, on the wing , in the sky. GI eventually placed a ladder up onto my home's flat roof for even better viewing. One day while kicking back on the roof, an incredible thing happened, so quickly and suddenly that ,at first I thought that I was just imagining things, that I had not seen one of those Vaux's Swifts dive down from the sky and into my chimney! When , 15 minutes or so later, a Swift flew up , out of the chimney, my observation was confirmed: Vaux's Swifts had chosen my chimney as their nesting site! I soon realized that their nest, containing 9 nestlings was essentially located in my living room: at the bottom of the chimney/top of the fireplace. Each time an adult flew in, a chorus of nestlings greeted them and the food that the returning adult had just harvested from the sky at high altitude. I referred to the food gatherers as "adults " and not "parents because futher observations revealed that 4 adults were working long hours for months to feed the young! My further reading revealed that it is not uncommon for some young of the past year to migrate back to their birthplace to act as assistants to their parents in feeding their little brothers and sisters, while at the same time receiving on the wing instruction in parenting I could go on and on about how rewarding, comforting and absolutely amazing my backyard nature discoveries have become for me, right in the middle of life-threatening disease and dark thoughts. I was further sweetly surprised to find the poem, "Just Say Wow" posted in front of my neighbors' house . It beautifully puts into words how I am attempting to live my remaining life. Thank you![Hide Full Comment]